Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Divine hand': US anti-abortionists say your body belongs to Christ'

26/06/2022

Divine hand': US anti-abortionists say your body belongs to Christ'US anti-abortionists and the religious right which has long waited for abortion right overturn, said they see divine hand' in court ruling

by Agence France-Presse

26-06-2022 17:01

in Christian Connect

Diana Villanueva, 53, who is against abortion, discusses her work running Rachel's Vineyard, a retreat inspired by Christian biblical scripture which offers support to women who, like her, regret their abortion, in El Paso, Texas, on 16 June, 2022. When she was 16, Diana Villanueva became pregnant after being raped, and then the man forced her to have an abortion. When she remembers the day that haunted her for decades, this devout Catholic remembers how difficult it was to act against her will. Photo: Robyn Beck / AFP

Diana Villanueva's rapist took her to an abortion clinic when she was just 16 years old and told her to terminate her pregnancy.

--

She wasn't greeted by the crowds of protestors who often gather outside facilities in the United States to try to persuade women to change their minds.

But now, this 53-year-old Catholic wishes she had been because she has been haunted by the termination ever since.

I was afraid that someone would see me because my mom was very involved in the church and I was afraid that somebody from church was going to be there,

she told AFP. But then at the same time, I wish somebody would have been there, because maybe that would have given me the courage to speak out and say: I don't want to do this'.

Villanueva now runs a retreat in her native El Paso, Texas, helping women who, like her, regret their abortion.

--

ALSO READ: G7 opens summit, starts with gold export ban on Russia

US ANTI-ABORTIONISTS Devised by psychologist Theresa Burke and present in dozens of countries, Rachel's Vineyard draws on biblical scripture and is described as a way to promote healing the pain of abortion.

The fact of the matter is that abortion affects you,

she said. It makes you angry. At first you just want to get rid of the problem, so you don't think beyond the problem. You want a solution.

But after you go through what you go through then you ponder what you did. That's when the remorse starts kicking in.

Villanueva discovered Rachel's Vineyard through her church, and her anti-abortion position like that of many Americans who disagree with the practice is heavily colored by her religion.

--

A lot of those ladies say: It's my body, my choice'. It's not your body; your body belongs to Christ.

The religious right has long aimed to have the landmark 1973 Roe vs. Wade ruling enshrining the right to abortion in the United States overturned.

On Friday, their prayers were answered when a 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court threw out almost 50 years of settled law, allowing individual states to make their own rules including banning abortion in all circumstances.

ALSO READ: Abortion pills to become next battleground in US reproductive fight

Women's rights' Texas has been among those states leading the charge to restrict access to abortions.

A law that came into effect last year bans the procedure when fetal heart activity can be detected usually around six weeks, a time few women are even aware they are pregnant.

El Paso no longer has any clinics offering abortions, but it stands on the front lines of an expanding fight.

Just across the border in New Mexico is the small town of Santa Teresa, the destination for women from all over Texas who want to have a safe, legal abortion in a state that has far more liberal rules.

Even so, elements of the Texas law mean that anyone who helps a woman to get an abortion even the Uber driver who takes her part of the way to the clinic can be held liable.

Mark Cavaliere, director of the Southwest Coalition for Life, which designs anti-abortion programs and campaigns, defends such tools.

Those who perform the procedures are the ones who commit acts of violence against women and children, he says.

According to figures from the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that compiles statistics and advocates for abortion rights, 75 percent of women who had an abortion in the United States in 2014 were living below the poverty line or classed as low income.

Cavaliere, a father of five, believes that the Supreme Court's codification of abortion in 1973 undermined women.

Roe vs. Wade put an expectation on women to feel like they have to alter, suppress and destroy the normal healthy functions of their natural body in order to meet definitions of success that are really based on male norms, he said.

We're very hopeful that by overturning [the law], we can actually solve the true issues, really solve women's equality, women's rights.

Southwest Coalition for Life hosts programs such as Her Care Connection that, among other initiatives, offers free ultrasounds in a modern mobile clinic.

The vehicle sometimes parks outside the Women's Reproductive Health Clinic in Santa Teresa in an attempt to convince women seeking an abortion to continue with their pregnancy.

Dozens of people gathered for a fundraiser for the van in El Paso last weekend.

The baby race in which two tots crawled to see who could cross the line first was the highlight for many in attendance.

Jazzmin Hernandez, a 32-year-old teacher who has no children herself, smiled as she watched one baby overtake the other on the final straight.

For her unlike for the majority of Americans, according to polling there are no grey areas.

It doesn't matter how the baby was conceived. Nothing justifies ending a child's life, she said.

I think Texas is setting an example, and hopefully other states will follow suit and abortion will be completely banned.
LINK: https://www.thesouthafrican.com/culture/christian-connect/us-anti-abor...
See more stories from thesouthafrican

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

06/09/2026

Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Germany with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

18/06/2026

Hollywood Filmmakers Launch AI Production Platform Cascade

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

18/06/2026

ATVA Blasts Deltavision Media for Demanding 'Egregious' Retrans Fees

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

18/06/2026

MediaKind Completes Merger with Harmonic's Video Business

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

18/06/2026

AJA Unveils Io Xpand Thunderbolt 5 Expansion Chassis At InfoComm 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

18/06/2026

Linda May Han Oh Receives Guggenheim Fellowship

Linda May Han Oh Receives Guggenheim Fellowship The Berklee professor, bassist, and composer will use the fellowship to debut Dreams of Knowing, an interdisci...

17/06/2026

EVS Achieves EcoVadis Gold Medal, Ranking in Top 5% of Companies Globally

EVS has announced it has received the EcoVadis Gold Medal for sustainability performance, ranking among the top 5% of companies globally in the Technology/Mid-S...

17/06/2026

Chyron Releases Weather 2.4 with Updated DataFlow Module

Chyron has released Weather 2.4, an update to its weather suite for broadcasters and meteorologists. The release focuses on enhancements to the DataFlow module,...

17/06/2026

VSiN Launches Best Bets TV, a 24/7 FAST Channel

VSiN, The Sports Betting Network, has announced the launch of Best Bets TV, a free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel. The 24/7 channel is currently avail...

17/06/2026

Snapchat and Team Whistle Launch World Cup Creator Program Across Miami, New York, and Los Angeles

DAZN's Team Whistle and Snap Inc. have announced a creator program centered ...

17/06/2026

LiveU Supporting Broadcast and Public Safety Operations for Summer of Soccer

LiveU is providing video transmission technology for broadcasters, production companies, and public safety agencies across North America's busy Summer of So...

17/06/2026

NATAS Announces Two New Board Members and COO Promotion

The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) has announced that Laurens Grant and Jacob Ullman have joined its Board of Directors. Chief of Staf...

17/06/2026

Akta Brings AI-First Cloud Video Workflows to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure

Akta, the AI-First SaaS video platform for modern broadcast and streaming operations, today announced that its video platform is now generally available on Orac...

17/06/2026

SVG Students to Watch: Nicholas Stafford, Texas Southern University

This recent graduate from Houston found inspiration in technical directing and now eyes a future career in sports production...

17/06/2026

InfoComm 2026: Audio-Technica Brings New Wireless, Networked Audio, and Certified Conferencing Solutions

Audio-Technica (booth C7959) arrives at InfoComm 2026 in Las Vegas with a slate ...

17/06/2026

SNS Positions AI Suite as On-Premise Answer to Video Indexing and Search Demands

SNS has published a guide addressing growing demand for AI-powered video indexing, transcription, facial recognition, and searchable metadata across media libra...

17/06/2026

Providius Announces Providius Direct for Network Troubleshooting on NETGEAR Pro AV Switches

Providius has announced Providius Direct, a workflow for investigating network i...

17/06/2026

NEP Launches NEP Platform Software Orchestration System, Selects Bridge Technologies VB440

NEP Group has announced the commercial availability of NEP Platform, a software ...

17/06/2026

BBright White Paper: SRT vs. RIST for Professional Video Contribution and Distribution

A new white paper examining Secure Reliable Transport (SRT) and Reliable Interne...

17/06/2026

Bango Research: 51% of Gen Z Say Highlights Are Replacing Live Games

New research from subscription bundling platform Bango finds that younger sports fans are increasingly consuming sport through highlights, clips, and social med...

17/06/2026

SMPTE Opens Entire Standards Library to Public at No Cost

SMPTE has announced that its complete Standards catalog is now freely available to the global media technology community, including all published SMPTE Standard...

17/06/2026

MediaKind Completes Merger with Harmonic's Video Business, Creating Independent Video Infrastructure Heavyweight

Harmonic has completed the sale of its Video Business to MediaKind for $145 mill...

17/06/2026

Omaha Productions to Produce 2026 World Series of Poker Main Event Coverage for ESPN

Omaha Productions will produce the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vega...

17/06/2026

SoundBridge 3.1.0 now available

New features, changes & bug fixes SoundBridge have just released another update for their remote collaboration-focused DAW - reviewed here in SOS March 2026...

17/06/2026

Fryette launch the Valvulator Mini

Valve-based front end for digital & modelling rigs The latest addition to Fryette's product range delivers a packed-down, pedalboard-friendly version of...

17/06/2026

The Biggest UK Pro Audio Show In 20 Years!

GearExpo UK - 27 June 2026 Sound On Sound are proud to announce GearExpo UK, a major new recording and music technology exhibition in London! This is the bi...

17/06/2026

Genelec introduce the 9402A System Management Device

SAM monitoring line-up gains Dante and AES67 support The latest expansion of Genelec's UNIO monitoring ecosystem introduces a new device that provides D...

17/06/2026

The R&SPR300 portable receiver from Rohde & Schwarz sets new standards in spectrum monitoring

The R&S PR300 portable receiver from Rohde & Schwarz sets new standards in spect...

17/06/2026

Elt Group and Rohde & Schwarz sign a cooperation agreement to explore commercial opportunities in electronic warfare and defense

Elt Group and Rohde & Schwarz sign a cooperation agreement to explore commercial...

17/06/2026

NABLF Graduates Its 2026 Broadcasting Leadership Training Class

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

17/06/2026

ABC and ESPN Score Most-Watched NBA Finals Since 1998

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

17/06/2026

Smartly, Roku Bring Social Performance Tools to CTV

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

17/06/2026

Pliant Technologies Debuts Crewcom Flex at InfoComm 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

17/06/2026

The Immersive Supervisor Emerges as Hollywood's Next Production Role

The Immersive Supervisor Emerges as Hollywood's Next Production Role Brie Clayton June 17, 2026 0 Comments Above image: On set live immersive revi...

17/06/2026

Vertical Musical Playback Shot with Blackmagic PYXIS 6K

Vertical Musical Playback Shot with Blackmagic PYXIS 6K Brie Clayton June 17, 2026 0 Comments Large format sensor and DaVinci Resolve workflow used fo...

17/06/2026

DAZ 3D Launches New Game-Ready Character Assets Built for Modern Engines and Production Workflows

DAZ 3D Launches New Game-Ready Character Assets Built for Modern Engines and Pro...

17/06/2026

Spectrum Awards $1.1 Million in Digital Education Grants

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

17/06/2026

XR Sports Alliance Adds New Members

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

17/06/2026

AIMS Launches Free Online IPMX Training Series

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

17/06/2026

Kiloview Partners with SFM to Expand AV-over-IP Solutions...

Montr al, Quebec, June 11, 2026 Kiloview, a leading provider of AV-over-IP and NDI -based video transmission solutions, today announced a distribution partner...

17/06/2026

Kiloview Launches U4 IP Video Dock Bringing Professional...

Changsha, China, June 15, 2026 Kiloview officially announced the launch of U4 IP Video Dock, a compact IP video decoder and output dock designed to bring prof...

17/06/2026

Half Year, Half Off! Ivory II Summer Sale is Here

Save 50% on All Ivory II Pianos and Collections Were halfway through the year, and we're cutting prices in half for the Ivory II Summer Sale! For a limite...

17/06/2026

Two in three fans will connect to venue WiFi this World Cup, Sky Business research reveals

Wednesday 17 June 2026 Two in three fans will connect to venue WiFi this World ...

17/06/2026

Visibility builds credibility - the tools you use every day...

Visibility builds credibility - the tools you use every day, now visible on your LinkedIn profile Published on Jun 17, 2026 Categories: Company News, Product ...

17/06/2026

Harmonic Completes Divestiture of Video Business to MediaKind

Transaction Positions Harmonic as a Pure-Play Broadband Company SAN JOSE, Calif. - June 17, 2026 - Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ: HLIT), the worldwide leader in virtual...

17/06/2026

FOX Advertising To Launch Industry's First End-to-End Agentic Advertising Platform, Powered by FOX AdStudio

FOX Advertising To Launch Industry's First End-to-End Agentic Advertising Pl...

17/06/2026

Building resilience in an era of compounding threats

How SGN is future-proofing critical national infrastructure with Arqiva Managed Connectivity. When disruption becomes the norm As Storm Eunice tore across the ...